February 25/26, 2023

From the Pastor’s Desk: Alex Poon

Dear brothers and sisters of RCAC,

Jesus surprises us, doesn’t he? He does meet our expectations. He intentionally does things that leaves us sometimes in confusion.

In John 11, the account of Lazarus, we see Martha wondering aloud to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” (John 11:21)

He remained in remained for two days longer in the place where he was in (John 11:6).

All to set up a scene where Lazarus would be raised up from the dead, and he would declare “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.”, and declaring all this so he would ask the question of utmost importance, “Do you believe this?” (John 11:26)

We ask, where was he when he was most needed?

The Gospel of John 12 and Luke 19 together gives us another surprising story. Jesus sends two of his disciples to fetch for him a young donkey who has never been ridden (Luke 19:30).

And upon his arrival into Jerusalem, the crowds gather to welcome him in. “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” (John 12:13)

The crowds praise his name… but were they expecting another kind of king? Perhaps a mighty warrior who would ride into their city to wage war against their Roman oppressors. A mighty King who would rescue them from their immediate problems…

Instead… this king wouldn’t take the lives of his enemies, but rather, he would give his own life for the ransom of many.

He would lay down his own life to rescue us from the bigger problem – the problem of eternal damnation, to give to us eternal life.

Whatever may be going on in your life, however you feel these days, I pray that you would be revealed to the surprising king in a way that anchors your worship.

Our Lord does not fit into our boxed definitions of who he is. May we see a clear picture of his heart.

His plans may surprise us; we cannot contain his knowledge of what we need best. We cannot contain his purposes for us, nor his purposes for the world.

Worship still.

Worship in way that trusts him.

Worship in a way that adds to your faith.

Worship, with an anchored hope that Christ does knows all, that he sees all things going on, and he’s in control of it all. He remains Lord of it all.

Worship, declaring his praises because you know truthfully, that Christ has not abandoned anything.

Worship, even when you’re surprised, all because you can rest in the hope of our Coming King.

You’re invited to worship, even when it’s hard. And in our worship, we’ll be reminded of Christ who is very much alive, still, in the most surprising kind of way.

Your servant in Christ,
Pastor Alex Poon

2023.02.25/26

親愛的列宣家弟兄姊妹：

耶穌給我們驚喜，不是嗎？ 祂確實回應我們的期望。 祂刻意做一些讓我們有時感到困惑的事情。

在約翰福音 11 章拉撒路的記述中，我們看到馬大大聲地對耶穌說：「主啊，如果你早在這裡，我的兄弟就不會死了！」（約翰福音 11:21）。耶穌聽說拉撒路病了，仍然在原來的地方住了兩天，（約翰福音 11:6）。一切都是為了營造一個拉撒路從死裡復活的場景，耶穌說：「我就是復活和生命；信我的人，雖然死了，也要活著。所有活著又信我的人，必定永遠不死，你信這話嗎？」 （約翰福音 11: 25-26）。

我們會問，最需要祂的時候祂在哪裡？

約翰福音 12 章和路加福音 19 章同樣講述了另一個令人驚訝的故事。 耶穌派祂的兩個門徒去為祂牽來一頭從沒有人騎過的小驢（路加福音 19:30）。

當祂到達耶路撒冷時，群眾聚集起來迎接祂，「和散那，奉主名來的以色列王，是應當稱頌的！」 （約翰福音 12:13）。群眾一邊讚美祂的名字，另一方面祂們是否期待著一個王， 一個威猛的戰士，騎馬進城，與當時壓迫祂們的羅馬政府抗爭，解決祂們眼前的困苦，把祂們解救出來。相反… 這個王不會除掉敵人的性命，而是會獻出自己的生命來救贖許多人的生命。祂犧牲自己的生命來拯救我們脫離罪惡，永死的刑罰，賜予我們永恆的生命。

無論你生活在任何光景，我為你祈禱願你能定晴敬拜給我們驚喜的主耶穌。我們的主不單單局限於我們對祂的認識，願我們能清楚地看到祂的內心。祂的計劃可能會讓我們驚訝， 祂完全知道甚麼是我們最需要的，祂對我們甚至對世界的旨意，我們無法猜透。

唯有專心敬拜祂，以堅定和信靠祂的心敬拜祂，祂是全知全能宇宙萬物的主宰。

敬拜祂，讚美祂，祂沒有撇下我們不顧。祂是我們再來之王，在祂裡面我們得安息。

邀請你與我們一起敬拜，即使是在艱難的時候， 在我們的敬拜中，我們會想起基督，祂仍然以最令人驚訝的方式活著。

主僕
潘啟華傳道

Feb 18/19, 2023

From the Pastor’s Desk: Pastor Karen Quan

1 John 1: 5-10 (The Message)

5 This, in essence, is the message we heard from Christ and are passing on to you: God is light, pure light; there’s not a trace of darkness in him.

6-7 If we claim that we experience a shared life with him and continue to stumble around in the dark, we’re obviously lying through our teeth—we’re not living what we claim. But if we walk in the light, God himself being the light, we also experience a shared life with one another, as the sacrificed blood of Jesus, God’s Son, purges all our sin.

8-10 If we claim that we’re free of sin, we’re only fooling ourselves. A claim like that is errant nonsense. On the other hand, if we admit our sins—simply come clean about them—he won’t let us down; he’ll be true to himself. He’ll forgive our sins and purge us of all wrongdoing. If we claim that we’ve never sinned, we out-and-out contradict God—make a liar out of him. A claim like that only shows off our ignorance of God.

Vancouver winters, although mild in temperature, can be so very dark and dreary. Although I’ve lived here for over 26 years, I still find myself longing to see the sun, even if it’s a short glimpse, especially after many endless days of rain. Slowly, the days are getting longer and I find myself emerging from what seems like this endless gray canvas.

Feb 22, 2023 marks Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. A solemn season in the church calendar that prepares our hearts for the death of Christ (Good Friday). It’s a time to quietly reflect on the greatest sacrifice of all time, as Christ gave up his life for our sin. It’s an opportunity to pause and make time to draw closer to God. For some, a time that might include practices such as extended prayer or fasting. This preparation can assist us to truly appreciate the resurrection of Christ celebrated on Easter.

This passage in 1 John, tells us of how God himself is light, even brighter than that of the sun. Darkness and light do not belong together, just as God and sin cannot coexist. God calls us to be in the light with him, and not stumble around in the darkness. He calls us to walk closely with him in this light and as the light reveals our sins, we’re to confess them to Jesus, for only He can forgive and remove these sins.

May the Lord give us fresh new ways to experience Lent this year so as to know Him deeper and so as to walk more freely in the Light.

Your servant in Christ,
Pastor Karen Quan

2023.02.18/19

親愛的列宣家弟兄姊妹：

約翰一書 1:5-10（新譯本聖經）

「5神就是光，在他毫無黑暗。這是我們從主所聽見、又報給你們的信息。6-7我們若說是與神相交，卻仍在黑暗裡行，就是說謊話，不行真理了。我們若在光明中行，如同神在光明中，就彼此相交，他兒子耶穌的血也洗淨我們一切的罪。8-10我們若說自己無罪，便是自欺，真理不在我們心裡了。我們若認自己的罪，神是信實的，是公義的，必要赦免我們的罪，洗淨我們一切的不義。我們若說自己沒有犯過罪，便是以神為說謊的，他的道也不在我們心裡了。」

溫哥華的冬天雖然氣候溫和，同時也非常陰黑和沉悶。縱然我已經在這裡居住了26年多，我仍然發現自己渴望看到陽光，即使是短暫的一瞥，尤其是在連續下了很多天雨之後。日照慢慢地變得越來越長，我發現自己正在從這片似乎沒有盡頭的灰色畫布中走出來。

2023 年 2 月 22 日是聖灰星期三，預苦期開始，這是教會年曆中一個莊嚴的季節，讓我們的心為基督的死做好準備（耶穌受難日）。也正好是時候我們靜靜地反思，耶穌基督的偉大犧牲，祂為我們的罪捨棄了自己的生命。這是一個停下來騰出時間安靜默想親近上帝的機會。對一些人來說，他們在這段日子會操練不住地祈禱或禁食。這樣可以幫助我們真正體會在復活節慶祝基督的復活。

約翰一書的這段經文告訴我們，神就是光，比太陽還光亮。黑暗與光明從不相屬，就像上帝與罪不能共存一樣。上帝呼召我們與祂一起生活在光中，而不是被罪絆倒生活在黑暗中。祂呼召我們在這光中與祂親密同行，當光顯露我們的罪時，我們要向耶穌認罪，因為只有祂才能赦免和除掉我們的罪孽。

願上帝給我們新的方式來體驗今年的預苦期，以致我們更深入地認識祂，更自由地行走在光中。

主僕
關潔玲傳道